Jongdae Kim 07Ox 11C 17B
Executive Director | Re'Generation Movement | Atlanta, GA, and Seoul, South Korea
Jongdae Kim is a global citizen and a peacemaker who strives to make peace wherever he is—whether in Atlanta, Clarkston, or Seoul. A son of political refugees from South Korea, Kim struggled to feel at home while always navigating between two cultures. Through service opportunities at Emory, he discovered the diverse community of Clarkston, where many resettled refugees and immigrants from all over the world have found a new home. There he met many young people who shared similar pains and potentials that stem from their global identities. Inspired by this experience, he and his wife, Grace Choi, founded Re’Generation Movement to empower young people from global diasporas to be peacebuilders in this pluralizing world. He is the executive director of Re’Generation Movement and chief executive officer of Mirrorball Media, a South Korean media start-up, where he continues sowing the seeds of peace.
“Majoring in sociology at Emory helped shape my worldview and exposed me to many systemic challenges that we face as a society. My education eventually contributed to the formation of my current nonprofit, as one tiny step toward addressing one of those ills of social stratification. My nonprofit work could have only been possible through the partnership with Emory’s Center for Civic and Community Engagement, as most of our volunteers are provided through the center’s Project SHINE.”
When he was younger, Jongdae Kim was conflicted about his cultural identity. “I was born in the United States because my grandfather came here as a political refugee,” he said. Eventually, Kim’s entire family returned to Korea, but he and his brother were sent back to the United States to study when they were in their early teens. “Half my life, I’ve lived in Korea and half I’ve lived in the U.S. I’ve struggled to reconcile my identity,” he said.
As an undergraduate, Kim “was drawn to sociology, and I took a course where I learned about privilege—how it keeps the class structure solid while hindering other people,” he said. “That realization stuck with me, and it’s one of the reasons I started Re’Generation. I wanted to contribute back to the community and help others who haven’t had the opportunities I had.”
Re'Generation Movement is a nonprofit that Kim and his spouse, Grace Choi, founded in 2017 while he was finishing his MBA. The couple had volunteered in nearby Clarkston with the refugee and immigrant communities since their undergraduate days. “There were a lot of programs offering educational support, but there wasn’t one geared toward SAT and college preparation,” Kim said. “Teenagers in the community were coming to us with that need, so we stepped in.”
The nonprofit strives to do more than meet educational needs, however. “Our mission is to empower these young people to be peacemakers and changemakers,” Kim said. The youth with whom Re'Generation works are uniquely equipped for this because “they have lived in various countries and picked up layers of identity from different cultures. They are global citizens.”
Currently living in Seoul with Choi and their young son, Kim launched Mirrorball Media, a newsletter service that summarizes weekly political news and focuses on context rather than political conflict. He sees the start-up as another means of catalyzing peaceful change. “I want to improve the public sphere by making conversations healthier across the aisles."